Warp Zoned Presents
Video Game Canon- BAFTA Games Awards: All the Winners from 2003 to Today
- Clair Obscur Completes the Sweep by Winning “Best Game” at 2025-2026 BAFTA Games Awards
- Boss Fight Books to Get a New Look for Richard Moss’s “Age of Empires”
- GDC Awards: All the Winners from 1996 to Today
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Wins “Game of the Year” at 2025-2026 GDC Awards
Warp Zoned Presents
- Video Game Research Library
- We Pitched a Museum a 1993 Game Hint Line (And They Actually Said Yes) – Yarn Spinner (2026)
- The History Of The Word “Metroidvania” And How It Spread – A Critical Hit (2025)
- Creator of Hit Game Shovel Knight Is at a ‘Make or Break’ Moment – Bloomberg (2025)
- Shadow of the Colossus: An oral history – Design Room (2025)
- In 2005, games started rewiring our brains – The AV Club (2025)
Author: John Scalzo
Sony’s “Official Holiday 2015” commercial for Star Wars: Battlefront is Force Pushing the nostalgia hard
Sony is a multibillion-dollar company, a member of the prestigious Forbes 500, and yet, their advertising for the PlayStation brand has been absolutely abysmal over the last 20 years. Even ignoring the (multiple) accusations of racism levied against the consolemaker’s commercials, they’ve also attempted to use demon babies, drug-induced hallucinations, and other baffling weirdness to sell the brand to gamers.
Which is why it’s so surprising that Sony’s “Official Holiday 2015” commercial gets it so right. Eschewing the company’s first party lineup, the commercial instead turns its focus on Star Wars: Battlefront and the joy we all felt growing up in the shadow of a galaxy far, far away. From late night Lightsaber fights to ridiculously elaborate cosplay to an X-Wing outside your window, this 60-second spot zeroes in on your nostalgic love for Star Wars like a T-16 bulls-eyeing a womp rat.
Star Wars: Battlefront will be released for the PS4 on November 17. A Limited Edition bundle featuring the game and a Darth Vader-themed PS4 will also be available. PC and Xbox One owners won’t need to feel left out, as Star Wars: Battlefront will also be available for those platforms as well.
Posted in News, PC, PS4, Xbox One
Tagged Star Wars: Battlefront
Weekly Warp-Up: Featuring With Stephen Colbert Edition
No, that’s not a typo. Welcome to the Weekly Warp-Up, your weekly wrap-up of the biggest and the best articles posted at Warp Zoned this week…
Is everybody out there giving The Late Show With Stephen Colbert a shot? The former Colbert Report host has taken over Letterman’s old seat with style and he’s also decided to open up the show to a lot of game-related guests. Sean Murray of Hello Games and PewDiePie (which I always head-pronounce as Pew-Die-Pie) stopped by last week and this week saw a performance from The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses. It was pretty great and I’m looking forward to more gaming guests from Colbert in the future.
In other news this week, we uploaded our review of No Time To Explain. You should check it out.
And in other other news, I’m tired, so hit the jump for the rest of the Weekly Warp-Up. (more…)
Posted in News
New Releases: Guitar Hero Live, Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, More
Are you ready to rock? I said… are you… Ready. To. Rock? Activision is certainly ready to rock as they’ve brought back the Guitar Hero franchise this week with the release of Guitar Hero Live . Scheduled for launch on the PS3, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and Xbox One in a Standard Edition and Two Guitar Bundle, Guitar Hero Live will include more than 100 songs on the disc and an ever-changing lineup of artists available through its GHTV mode.
But Guitar Hero Live isn’t the only arena act looking to put on an encore this week. New entries in four of gaming’s biggest franchises will soon be available in stores:
- Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate (PS4 and Xbox One) brings the Templars-versus-Assassins saga to Victorian England. And you better believe that Jack the Ripper is involved (though not until the downloadable expansion).
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes is yet another multiplayer Zelda game, this time for the 3DS.
- Tales of Zestiria is the latest Tales game from Bandai Namco and the first to appear simultaneously on the PC, PS3, and PS4.
- Just Dance 2016 (PS3, PS4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One) and Just Dance: Disney Party 2 (Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One) will have you beboppin’ and scattin’ all over your living room one more time.
Finally this week, Microsoft is releasing Halo 5: Guardians a week early if you’re willing to pay extra for it (sort of). The Limited Collector’s Edition includes a digital download of the game, but it won’t unlock until next Tuesday, October 27. You can also spring for the 1 TB Xbox One + Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition Bundle, which features a Halo-themed Xbox One system, along with a digital download of Halo 5 that won’t unlock until next Tuesday.
A complete list of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, Guitar Hero Live, Halo 5: Guardians, Just Dance 2016, Tales of Zestiria, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
Xbox Store Today: Marvel Puzzle Quest, Bedlam, Rock N Racing Off Road DX
Well that was fast. An Xbox 360 launch for Marvel Puzzle Quest was announced a little more than a week ago and it looks like its already available on the Xbox Games Store. The match-3 puzzler brings a Marvel makeover to the Puzzle Quest formula and includes classic characters like Iron Man, Hulk, and Thor alongside a “deep RPG leveling” system. Marvel Puzzle Quest is also in the works for the Xbox One.
Also available this week is a pair of Xbox One games…
- Bedlam is based on Christopher Brookmyre’s novel of the name and gives players a history lesson of online gaming’s early days in a first-person perspective.
- Rock N Racing Off Road DX is a top-down off road racer that should stir pleasant memories in anyone who remembers Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road.
More information on all three of these games is available after the break. (more…)
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Marvel Puzzle Quest
Nintendo Download: Yoshi’s Wooly World, New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U, more
Mario and friends have taken over this week’s Nintendo Download.
Yoshi is back and starring in his first original console game in a long time. Yoshi’s Wooly World, developed by Good-Feel, is a side-scroller for the Wii U that wraps Yoshi’s entire world in yarn and asks him to save the day. Is he up to the task? He’ll take a lick at it, that’s for sure.
Also available this week is New Super Mario Bros. U + New Super Luigi U, a bundled edition of the Wii U’s first Mario game and its brotherly expansion. If you own a Wii U, there’s a very good chance you’ve already played one or both of these games, but if you haven’t, this bundle is a good a time as any to give them a shot.
Finally this week, Capcom will bring Final Fight One to the Wii U’s Virtual Console. Originally released for the Game Boy Advance, Final Fight One is a remake of one of the Super NES’s best beat ’em ups.
More information on all of these games, along with a few others (including a BASIC programming tutor for the 3DS), can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, Wii U
Tagged New Super Luigi U, New Super Mario Bros. U, Yoshi's Woolly World
Learn how to become an atomic ninja with Agility in Fallout 4’s latest S.P.E.C.I.A.L. video
“Following total atomic annihilation, the rebuilding of this great nation of ours may fall to you. Study these materials carefully to ensure your survival and to discover what makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L.”
While ninjas are most commonly associated with feudal Japan, Bethesda believes they’ll also have a place in a post-apocalyptic Wasteland. In the latest video from their S.P.E.C.I.A.L. series, the game publisher wants to educate players on the many ways that Agility can make you like a ninja in Fallout 4…
Agility lets you dodge bullets! Agility gives you better aim when you’re under pressure! And Agility even grants you the ability to sneak up on unsuspecting mutants in the dark! But remember, a truly agile person will know that a pack of monsters might be even more agile. Not just anyone can snatch all the bells from the dummy.
Fallout 4 will be released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 10.
Overwatch beta will begin on October 27
Blizzard has announced that the long-promised beta for Overwatch will begin on October 27, a little less than two weeks from now. Players in the Americas will gain access to the beta first (with Europe and Asia following soon after) and if you’re interested in taking part in the test, be sure to sign up at Battle.net.
The developer plans to employ a two-tiered structure for the Overwatch beta. A constantly available “Closed Beta” will offer a limited number of players access to every map and every hero to test every nook and cranny of their team-based shooter:
Closed Beta
The Closed Beta will be composed of a small number of testers who will have regular access to our public beta test. Our goal for the Closed Beta is 100% gameplay feedback, and we’ll be encouraging participants to discuss and dissect every hero, map, ability, and other aspect of the game on our upcoming beta forums.In order to get the most meaningful and constructive feedback possible, the total number of players in the Closed Beta will be extremely limited… though we’ll be adding more people from time to time to make sure we have the right number of heroes actively engaged.
Meanwhile, a much larger player pool will be invited to take part in “Beta Test Weekends,” which will feature a more restricted set of maps and modes:
Beta Test Weekends
From time to time, we’ll also need to open up the floodgates and call upon an army to overwhelm our hardware. The goal: get as many heroes playing as we can, all helping us “stress test” our servers to ensure they can withstand the assault.These larger-scale Beta Test Weekends will be brought online occasionally for a limited time, generally over a weekend, and will run concurrently with our ongoing Closed Beta test. Because Beta Test Weekends are primarily hardware- and tech-focused, the number of heroes, maps, and gameplay modes will be restricted—but feedback on everything will definitely be welcome.
If you’re unable to get into the beta, Blizzard also plans to bring a playable version of Overwatch to this year’s BlizzCon, which will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center on November 6th and 7th.